Tony’s Tax Tips

In a recent news release, the IRS reminds us of the difficulty involved in working with an unlicensed tax preparer, should that preparer need to represent you before the IRS.

By way of explanation, in June of 2014, IRS announced a voluntary education program, the Annual Filing Season Program (AFSP), for unenrolled return preparers and others that would go into effect for the upcoming filing season. Completion of the program allows these preparers very limited rights to represent taxpayers. However, these rights are not broad in scope, nor are they allowed at every level of IRS jurisdiction.

Conversely, IRS also notes in the news release that there are no changes to the representation rules and powers for EAs, CPAs, and attorneys. These tax professionals continue to have unlimited practice rights and can represent any taxpayer before any IRS office, including collection and appeals, regardless of whether they prepared the tax return in question. Choosing such a professional usually puts a taxpayer at a great advantage rather than the choice of someone who works seasonally, and is unenrolled.